By Admin 
The triangular T20 series organized by PCB started on Tuesday. The first match of the tournament was played between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Pakistan won by 5 wickets and started the tournament on a bright note.
Pakistan had a target of 148 runs to win. At one time Pakistan was in trouble after losing 4 wickets for 54 runs. 92 runs had to be scored in the last 10 overs to win. It seemed that Zimbabwe could register victory. But Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan made a partnership of 61 runs for the fifth wicket and turned the match in favor of Pakistan. Fakhar was out after scoring 44 runs in 32 balls with the help of 2 sixes and 2 fours.
Usman Khan remained unbeaten on 37 runs on 28 balls and Mohammad Nawaz remained unbeaten on 21 runs on 12 balls. There was a partnership of 33 runs between the two. Pakistan scored 151 runs for 5 wickets in 19.2 overs and won the match by 5 wickets. Babar Azam could not open the account.
Brad Evans took 2 wickets, Richard Ngwara, T Maposa, and Graeme Creamer took 1 wicket each.
Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and decided to bowl. Openers Brian Bennett and T Marumani gave a strong start to the team. Both of them made a partnership of 72 runs in 8 overs for the first wicket. Marumani was out as the first wicket after scoring 30 runs in 22 balls. After the breaking of the opening partnership, Zimbabwe’s batting completely disintegrated. Bennett was also out after scoring 49 runs in 36 balls.
Captain Sikandar Raza scored unbeaten 34 runs with the help of 3 fours and 1 six in 24 balls, taking the team’s score to 147 for 8 wickets. For Pakistan, Mohammad Nawaz took 2 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs. Shaheen Afridi was the most expensive and took 1 wicket for 34 runs in 4 overs. Salman Mirza, Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed got 1 wicket each.